9.02.2010

Hakadosh Baruch Hu is in control of everything and he is perfectly just, so when tragedy strikes Am Yisrael we should look within to see what have we done to cause Hashem to do this. Instead of thinking in this manner, there are those of us who think we are perfect and that the terrible things that happen to us are for no reason and they look to the goyim to save us from an invisible evil force that controls our enemies. There are those who think that if we have more "friends" to speak for us politically or to support us financially we can be saved from our enemies. To believe that someone or something besides Hashem is in control of the terrible things that happen to us is a form of idolatry. My fear is that if Jews put their faith in the goyim then Hashem will have to prove that they cannot save us and we as a people will all suffer.

8.16.2010

"The sum of the matter, when all all has been considered: Fear God and keep his commandments, for that is man's whole duty. For God will judge every deed -even everything hidden- whether good or evil." Kohelet 12:13,14

8.14.2010

This is not a new phenomenon. We learn from Melachim Bet chapter 17 the King of Assyria brought foreigners and settled them in the Shomron. These people were idolators and Hashem sent lions to attack them. When this happened the people told the King that they didn't know the law of the G-d of the land so he sent a Kohen to teach them. It is interesting to note that the Kohen settled in Bet-El. According to the commentary the Kohen realized he couldn't convince the people to give up their idols so he allowed them to continue serving their idols but as intermediaries not deities. They feared Hashem but they continued to worship their own g-ds in addition to Hashem. We see these foreigners later in Ezra chapter 4 when we come back to the land from Bavel to rebuild the Beit HaMikdash.

Ezra 4:1The enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the people of the exile were building a Sanctuary for Hashem, God of Israel. They approached Zerubbal and the heads of families and said to them, "Let us build with you, for, like you, we will seek your God; it is to Him that we have been sacrificing since the days of Esar-haddon, king of Assyria, who brought us up here." But Zerubbabel, along with Jeshua and the rest of the family heads of Israel, said to them, "It is not for you together with us to build a Temple for our God; rather we by ourselves will build it, for Hashem, God of Israel, as King Cyrus king of Persia has commanded us."

According to the commentary, these people had adopted a distorted form of the Jewish religion worshiping Hashem along with their gods.

Sound familiar? Is not the slogan of the so-called "xian zionists", "we worship the God of Avraham, Yitzhak, and Yaakov just like you"?

8.11.2010

The ways of God are straight. There should be no possibility of taking the wrong turn. There are no turns. But if one does not want the truth... If one rebels... Even the ways of God, even the precious gifts of God can lead to failure.
When one is making progress in the life of the spirit many doors open before him. But there is no standing still. If one thinks one is standing still, in truth he is falling. This is our situation. We are falling continuously, but we don't know it. There is nothing worse that this.
The very "ways of God" used by the tzaddik as a means of progress lead to failure when used by the rebel. Everything is a test. The very means given by God to achieve aliyah- spiritual ascent -can be used by the yetzer ha-ra for the opposite.
(Michtav Me'Eliyahu, Rabbi Eliyahu E Dessler)

8.10.2010

There are rabbis among Am Yisrael that believe we should take a "McDonalds" approach to "converting" the goyim. These "rabbis" say we have a mission to be a "light to the nations" and we are following in the footsteps of our father Avraham when we act like "missionaries" and go out to the goyim to forcefeed them Torah. These rabbis want to twist the Torah and even throw out halachah to make it more palatable to the goyim. Well I have three words for them "quality over quantity"!

Bereishis 17:3 Abram fell on his face: Abraham's life goal was to bring all the nations to faith in the Living God. As is known, he would attract passersby by offering them drinks, and then some would heed his call to convert. But when he heard the new condition for conversion, namely circumcision, he was seized with trembling, for henceforth his goal would be beyond reach. What fool would listen to him to undergo an operation on his own flesh? Abraham fell on his face in great anguish, like a man whose ship had sunk at sea. This is what is behind Chazal's statement (Breishit Rabbah Ch.46), "Before I underwent circumcision they would come and join me, but who will come now that I am circumcised?" God answered him:

Bereishis 17:4 As for me this is my covenant with you. I do not need a lot of "converts," who come to "look for God" among the food and drink, and who are unwilling to shed their blood on the altar of faith. It is sufficient for Me that you keep My covenant. I am content to have one believer like you, who goes through fire and water to sanctify My Name.

8.09.2010

After 2000 years HaKadosh Baruch Hu has removed us from the galut and returned us to our holy land but it is up to us to remove the galut from within us. That means we have to remove all that is unholy and unjewish from within our hearts and minds. We have to remember the true Jewish idea without the influence of western philosophy or morality.

2.10.2010

In parshat Mishpatim, Hashem commands us: "If you lend money to my people, the poor man who is with you, you shall not behave to him like a creditor..."

On this, the Midrash Rabba comments:

Happy is the man who stands his test. For there is no person whom Hashem does not test. The rich man is tested whether his hand is generously open to the poor. The poor man is tested whether he can stand suffering without becoming resentful... If the rich man stands his test and is gererous with his charity, he enjoys his money in this world, the capital remains for him in the World to Come and Hashem saves him from the judgement of Gehinnom...And if the poor man stands his test and does not rebel against his lot, he receives a double portion in the future world...

We have discussed this midrash elsewhere. We explained there why the poor man who passes his test receives a double portion in the World to Come. (He receives one portion for observing his mitzvah-accepting his fate without resentment-and another as a reward for the suffering he underwent in this world.) Now we ask: Why does G-d have to "Save the rich man from judgement of Gehinnom"? If he passed his test and was generous with his charity, why is he threatened with Gehinnom and need to be saved by the mercy of Hashem? The answer is that the rich man who "enjoys his money in this world" is in constant danger of becoming absorbed in his possessions and his pleasures. If he is not careful, they may become the dominant interests in his life. In this way, he would be erecting an idol in himself and this would be Gehinnom itself. This would mean that he was investing his whole life in nothingness and, as we have explained elsewhere, a basic aspect of Gehinnom is indeed "nothingness". By placing his main interest in possessions which, in themselves have no spiritual value-which spiritually speakiing, are nothing-he loses his own spiritual value and nothingness fills his soul. This is Gehinnom.

However, if that person tries to be the best of his ability, sincerely and devotedly, to use his possessions as God wants him to use them, then God will bestow upon him the heavenly aid needed to avoid the pitfalls of the situation-to overcome the temptations and to act on the principle that the sole value of material possessions resides in the mitzvot that we do with them.

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"The argument of the nations here is that we must achieve unity and break down the walls of separation. Is this not fair and logical according the the false thinking of the worshippers of foriegn culture? Is not the unity of all nations and the disappearance of the differences between Israel and the nations the goal of the Hellenists...."

"G-d decreed upon holy Israel that they must be separated from impurity and from the impure nations. The idolatry and foreign culture of the nations cannot coexist with G-d's Torah or with G-d himself."